Undaunted Investigators of ‘Extrajudicial Killings’

Representatives Jim Himes and Adam Smith shine

The U.S. military’s murder without legal justification of two shipwrecked people clinging to part of their destroyed boat in the Caribbean on September 2 should outrage Americans. The double-strike has shaken the U.S. military (present and former), the public, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. It has also focused attention on Donald Trump’s apparent scheme to use an illegal, unauthorized, and reckless military operation to gin up a full-scale regime change war against Venezuela. (On Wednesday, Trump further escalated tensions with Venezuela by seizing an oil tanker.)

Two Democratic congressmen have distinguished themselves in their dogged search for a full accounting of the incident, including disclosure of the complete videotape of the Sept. 2 strike. Proof of their effectiveness: Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Rep. Mike D. Rogers (R-Ala.) told reporters he wants to end the whole oversight effort.

An early critic of Trump’s extrajudicial killing scheme, Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), ranking member on the Intelligence Committee, in frequent statements and interviews, has illuminated key details about the strike and given voice to the legitimate fear that Trump is dragging us into a war.

Well before the Sept. 2 double-strike atrocity came to light, Himes warned about indiscriminate use of military power in lieu of ordinary drug interdiction. He told The Bulwark’s Bill Kristol in late September: “Having the Defense Department kill alleged drug runners in the Caribbean is illegal...These folks are committing murder — murder defined as killing without a legal basis. I am mystified over why the rest of the chain of command is quite comfortable with it.”

Later, on Oct. 30 on MSNBC, he challenged Republicans: “If Lindsey Graham and other Republicans want to go the route of saying, ‘It’s OK to kill people illegally, just so long as the American public supports it,’ the American public needs to really think that through. There will be a Democratic president someday.”

Himes then scolded Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth: “[The strikes] have not been authorized by the Congress, and even if because you’re Pete Hegseth and you get really jazzed up on the testosterone rush that comes from blowing up a boat with a couple of guys on it, that is not the way you’re going to interdict drugs.” He clarified that the rationale for the attack, fentanyl smuggling, is bogus since that drug comes from Mexico. “There is cocaine coming out of Colombia, not so much Venezuela, so what we see there is massive numbers of military assets deployed for purely performative reasons,” he explained.

Since we learned about the Sept. 2 double-strike, Himes has kept up a constant drumbeat on both old and new media. He reiterated in numerous appearances that killing shipwrecked persons who pose no threat is illegal. He put it bluntly after viewing the video: “What I saw in that room is one of the most troubling scenes I’ve ever seen in my time in public service. You have two individuals in clear distress without any means of locomotion with a destroyed vessel who were killed by the United States.” (He wisely avoided getting bogged down in the debate over whether it should be identified as a murder or a war crime.)

Like Himes, Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, has been on top of the issue for months. On Sept. 16, he released a statement with Himes and other ranking chairmen of relevant committees on the next lethal strike:

As was the case with the first strike on September 2, 2025, the Trump Administration failed to secure authorization for the use of force from Congress. Yet again, the president has made the unilateral decision to carry out a lethal military strike on the premise that a small boat holding three people located off the coast of Venezuela somehow posed an emergency created by an attack upon the United States and warranted lethal military force rather than a law enforcement response. While we agree that the flow of drugs into the United States is a horrific public health crisis that must be addressed, we believe that essential mission should be led by law enforcement.

Smith, Himes and the other ranking chairmen warned that “expansion and abuse of presidential risk dragging us into another endless war,” deplored the regime’s lack of transparency, and demanded congressional briefings. They’ve also restated the constitutional principle that Congress “has the constitutional responsibility to declare war and authorize or limit the use of force, poses an even greater threat to our democratic system of government.”

Again on October 7, Smith, Himes, and other ranking chairmen issued a statement demanding Trump release “the list of designated terrorist organizations (DTOs) he has unilaterally declared as such and provide evidence for his justifications used in several recent lethal U.S. military strikes in the Caribbean Sea.”

Since the Sept. 2 revelation, like his fellow congressman, Smith has appeared on old and new media platforms to highlight the Sept. 2 strikes’ illegality and the larger policy outrage. In an interview with The Contrarian, he reviewed the briefings he had received and dissected the specious reasoning and out-and-out lies Republicans put forward to justify Trump’s recklessness.

In every outing, Smith has stressed that releasing that video is critical. When Trump made an about-face and refused to release it, Smith pounced, arguing this proved his point that Republicans have been lying about it. He no doubt correctly surmised that Trump is scared it will make the regime “look bad.”

Himes and Smith have given a multi-part masterclass in defending democratic principles and skewering dishonest MAGA Republicans:

• Repeat everywhere the core argument (Trump has launched an illegal military operation);

• While a horrifying event may help raise awareness, you cannot lose the overarching narrative;

• Demand transparency (What are they hiding?);

• Expose Republicans’ lies (e.g., misrepresenting the video, advancing a fake rationale to justify a regime-change war);

• Appeal to Americans’ decency (we don’t kill shipwrecked civilians); and

• Explain why people should care (e.g., it weakens us, draws us into war, endangers our troops).

Himes and Smith’s undaunted and uncompromising campaign to stop Trump’s endless quest for dictatorial power and prevent a full-scale war has earned our respect and deserves our praise. They have proven that, even in the minority, Democrats can move public opinion, put the screws on Trump’s regime, reveal MAGA lawmakers’ dishonesty, and defend the rule of law. Armed Service Chairman Rogers can try to shut this down, but thanks to the likes of Smith and Himes, the public, press, Democratic House and Senate members, and even some Republican lawmakers will continue pressing for answers.